Three Ravens is an English myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.
In each weekly episode, released on Mondays, we explore a historic county, digging into the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more.
Across our first six series we ventured around England's 39 historic counties twice, taking turns to tell a new version of a legend from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it may have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past.
Our Bonus Episodes are then released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Forgotten Melodies about folk song types with original performances from us, and Magus, which is about the lives of the most famous witches and wizards in history).
On Saturdays, we then release episodes of our interview series Local Legends, with each episode featuring a chat between us and an acclaimed folklorist, author, podcaster or historian, deepening discussions about that week's county.
In between series, since March 2025 we have also launched our Lang Fairy Tale Project, for which we are recording and releasing the 700+ stories collected by English academics and authors Nora and Andrew Lang, published in over a dozen volumes from the end of the 19th century and changing children's literature forever.
With entire other Bonus Series to enjoy, including our comic retelling of the legend of Gawain and the Green Knight, original narratives such as our upcoming series Dog Days about the supernatural adventures of young playwright Christopher Marlowe in Elizabethan London, and our annual Haunting Season every October, there's tonnes of fun to be had in our back catalogue of over 300 episodes.
In addition to which, we also release a range of exclusive content on Patreon, where supporters also enjoy ad-free listening, including monthly 'One Off' episodes covering a range of folky topics, editions of the Three Ravens Newsletter, and over two-dozen episodes of the Three Ravens Film Club, through which we discuss folk horror films from across the decades, and more.
For a guide of where to start, click here - but our advice is to just pick an episode that sounds interesting, then hit 'Play' and join us around the campfire to listen in...
Three Ravens Series 7 launched in September 2025, and is all about the heritage and legends of the 13 historic counties of Wales. For press or collaboration inquiries or learn more about our book, published in hardback by The History Press, and the podcast in general, visit our website. Join our Patreon here, and find links to our social media channels and sponsor Three Spirit Drinks here. Use Voucher Code THREERAVENS for a 15% discount.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Three Ravens is an English myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.
In each weekly episode, released on Mondays, we explore a historic county, digging into the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more.
Across our first six series we ventured around England's 39 historic counties twice, taking turns to tell a new version of a legend from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it may have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past.
Our Bonus Episodes are then released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Forgotten Melodies about folk song types with original performances from us, and Magus, which is about the lives of the most famous witches and wizards in history).
On Saturdays, we then release episodes of our interview series Local Legends, with each episode featuring a chat between us and an acclaimed folklorist, author, podcaster or historian, deepening discussions about that week's county.
In between series, since March 2025 we have also launched our Lang Fairy Tale Project, for which we are recording and releasing the 700+ stories collected by English academics and authors Nora and Andrew Lang, published in over a dozen volumes from the end of the 19th century and changing children's literature forever.
With entire other Bonus Series to enjoy, including our comic retelling of the legend of Gawain and the Green Knight, original narratives such as our upcoming series Dog Days about the supernatural adventures of young playwright Christopher Marlowe in Elizabethan London, and our annual Haunting Season every October, there's tonnes of fun to be had in our back catalogue of over 300 episodes.
In addition to which, we also release a range of exclusive content on Patreon, where supporters also enjoy ad-free listening, including monthly 'One Off' episodes covering a range of folky topics, editions of the Three Ravens Newsletter, and over two-dozen episodes of the Three Ravens Film Club, through which we discuss folk horror films from across the decades, and more.
For a guide of where to start, click here - but our advice is to just pick an episode that sounds interesting, then hit 'Play' and join us around the campfire to listen in...
Three Ravens Series 7 launched in September 2025, and is all about the heritage and legends of the 13 historic counties of Wales. For press or collaboration inquiries or learn more about our book, published in hardback by The History Press, and the podcast in general, visit our website. Join our Patreon here, and find links to our social media channels and sponsor Three Spirit Drinks here. Use Voucher Code THREERAVENS for a 15% discount.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, the good ship Three Ravens is pulling into port in the south-westerly Welsh county of Pembrokeshire!
Populated in days of yore by 'The Demetae' - the Mead Drinkers - Pembrokeshire was, for a time, known as 'Little England Beyond The Border' as once it was claimed by the Normans, it stayed under their control.
With a long legacy in naval trade, piracy and smuggling, the county is hardly short of folklore - and its castles also remain standing! Mostly...
Along the way we discuss the significance of Preseli Bluestone, avoid the monstrous, water-dwelling Afanc, tell the tale of a sleepy giant who had to intervene when two fish got into a protracted argument, explore some unsettling ghost stories, and plenty else besides, interspersed with some extracts from this Saturday's upcoming interview with Pembrokeshire storyteller Deborah Winter.
All of which leads up to Eleanor's story for this week, "The Toads of Nevern" which sees an English curate encountering some sinister enemies of the church.
Including ones that hop about, and pay no heed to scripture!
We hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday with our new Forgotten Melodies bonus episode all about Witch Songs!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For our 50th Local Legends interview episode, we've rustled up author and award-winning storyteller Michael Harvey, and made him talk about the extremely dreamy Welsh county of Radnorshire.
Michael is a Welsh storyteller and author with more than 25 years of experience. Gongs include a Major Creative Wales Award and a British Award for Storytelling Excellence.
He is known for telling traditional stories from Celtic and Welsh oral traditions, and, for a time, worked at the Bleddfa Centre in Radnorshire - the historic Welsh county that has been our focus on Three Ravens this week.
To learn all about Michael's work and find out where to see him next, check his website here.
Speaking with Michael for this episode was a genuine pleasure, and it’s a conversation which ranges, including discussions of stories from and about Radnorshire to a lot more besides, encompassing Welsh history and folk customs to life at the Bleddfa Week of Storytelling.
Maybe this conversation will prompt the universe to conspire to bring it back.
Otherwise, we we will speak to you again on Monday for Series 7 Episode 4, about the the history and folklore of the historic Welsh county of Pembrokeshire!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This month's episode of the Three Ravens Bestiary is all about one of our favourite topics - Wargs and Werewolves!
We start with J.R.R. Tolkien, exploring how the species of intelligent wolf he invented - the Warg - combined Old English and Old Norse words and ideas, bringing different traditions of werewolf belief crashing into the public consciousness.
It is this, brought into monster movies over time, that really created the 'Modern' werewolf.
Though where does the werewolf's story begin?
We're throwing a broad net on this one, including discussions of Skinwalkers and Wendigos, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the first-ever "man beast" in the form of Enkidu; we touch on the Classical myth of King Lycaon of Arcadia, transformed into a wolf due to his inhuman transgressions, and discuss how the Great European Werewolf Panic, which lasted for over 300 years, changed folk belief about the links between Black Magic and werewolves forever.
It's a grand and sweeping story, and goes to explain a few things about why werewolves are pretty much always scary, why Wargs matter so much, and how modern cinema-goers are maybe a bit more like Odin than they probably realise.
So, pull up your Wolf Pants, leave the silver bullets at home, and let's get lupine! Aroooo!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On this week's episode we're off to the least populated historic county of Wales, Radnorshire on the Welsh Marches!
As for why Radnorshire has been so depopulated and wild for quite so long, it has a lot to do with war, and plenty to do with the Black Death. We discuss how these traumas, combined with the destruction of castles, have left the county speckled with desolate empty hillforts and ghost villages - a landscape filled with tales of murder and tragedy, as well as lots of fascinating superstitions...
These include the ways in which 'Spirit Nights' were organised, how 'Sin Eaters' were employed to absorb the errors of the dead, and plenty else, from the donation of graveside 'Shovel Money' to 'Rag Knife Men' and the vigilante groups known as Rebecca and her Daughters.
All this aside, we chat about the Cat Man of Radnor Forest, the drowned Giant's Graves now sunk within a reservoir, the Llandrindod Wells Sheela Na Gig, the county's link to the Elizabethan magus Doctor Dee, and plenty else besides, interspersed with some extracts from this Saturday's upcoming interview with award-winning Welsh storyteller and author Michael Harvey.
All of which leads up to Martin's story for this week, "Davies and the Devil" through which a lowly orphan turns the tables on the Dark One across a hundred years of mischief.
We hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday with a new Three Ravens Bestiary episode all about Wargs and Werewolves and - if you're a Patreon supporter - our November Exclusive episode about the history and folklore of the Gunpowder Plot!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Eleanor is joined around the campfire by storyteller priestess Christine Watkins to talk all about her home county of Monmouthshire.
Christine was born in Monmouthshire, where her family has deep roots. She has been crafting words for speaking live or in broadcast since 1980 - stories of belonging and apartness, discovery and creation.
She's the author of Gwent Folk Tales and the host of the podcast Around Goes The Rambler, in which she walks Monmouthshire over the course of a year and a day.
You can learn more about Christine and her work, and listen to the podcast, on her website at christinewatkins.co.uk.
For now, though, let's gather round the campfire in the shadow of the Sugarloaf and talk about all things Monmouthshire with a true Local Legend, Christine Watkins.
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For this month's Magic and Medicines Bonus Episode, we're talking all about Reiki!
We have a bit more direct experience with this one than some of our past topics, as we completed our First Degree Reiki qualification this summer over the Solstice.
Our conversation digs into the theory and history behind Reiki, its development by Mikao Usui and subsequent spread to the West, along with the establishment of the Usui Shiki Ryoho lineage.
We look at the Five Principles which provide an ethical underpinning for the practice of Reiki, and talk about the practicalities of Reiki healing, along with the many different permutations of the system.
And, of course, tell the story of how it made its way down to us!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After the madness of Haunting Season, we're returning to Series 7 and the history and folklore of Monmouthshire in south east Wales!
We discuss the county's history of invasion, by the Romans, the Normans, the English, and of course by heavy industry, and its many changing names - Caerwent, Gwent, Wentland and Monmouthshire.
We couldn't fail to mention our favourite son of Monmouthshire, Geoffrey, as well as some of the incredible landscape and cultural features of the county. We're helped along in this by some excerpts from our Local Legends interview with Christine Watkins.
Then we dig into folklore, finding surprising cures for warts and meeting cunning men, wily bridge-building parsons, and some rather mean-spirited fairies.
Eleanor's story "Winter's Eve" has the chilling Gwrach y Rhibyn drifting through a cloud of mist, and a whole host of Nos Galan Gaeaf customs.
We hope that you enjoy the episode, and we'll speak to you again on Thursday with a new Magic and Medicine episode all about Reiki!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Haunting Season 2025 is over, so in this month's Update Episode we're looking ahead to the continuation of Series 7!
As usual, the episode offers the main Three Ravens news from the last month, the plan for the month ahead, and the opening chunks of last month's Patreon Exclusive episodes.
First comes the initial 25 minutes or so of Eleanor's conversation with historian and demonologist Fiona Dodwell about cursed and haunted dolls, which is followed by the opening of our Film Club episode for October, as released last Thursday, about the 2007 cult horror comedy 'Trick 'r Treat.'
Speak to you again tomorrow on our new County Episode all about Monmouthshire, for which Eleanor has written a pretty freaky monster story that we hope you'll very much enjoy!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For our final Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Eleanor speaks with Tony Walker, author and host of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast.
We are huge fans of Tony's work, from his narrations of well-known ghost stories and lesser read hidden gems to his own original fiction.
Though as we discuss during this conversation, Tony's interests in the uncanny and peculiar started in childhood. He has worked in ghost tourism, spent many years as a mental healthcare professional, and has traveled almost as widely as he has read.
His own writing, which prompted the creation of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast, speaks to his genuine, deep-seated interest in the Gothic, the paranormal, and the 'super-normal' - he has an open mind, natural curiosity, and a warmth and friendliness that make him wonderful to spend time with.
In this interview, Eleanor chats to Tony about the formula for the perfect ghost story, real life ghost stories, his favourite spooky tales and places, and lots more, from the intersection between storytelling and gaming to the replica Punic mask he bought on holiday which seemed to become home to an errant nature spirit...
To find out more about his work simply search up 'Classic Ghost Stories' on the app you're using to listen to this, or visit his Substack here.
Otherwise, we thoroughly hope that you have enjoyed our third annual Haunting Season, and will speak to you tomorrow in our November Update episode, then again on Monday when Series 7 continues with our exploration of the history and folklore of the historic Welsh county of Monmouthshire!
Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To wish everyone a very happy Halloween, we warmly present a reading of Oscar Wilde's classic ghost story, The Canterville Ghost.
After a month of celebrating more sincere ghost stories and quite dense, spooky topics, we thought it might be time for a little levity - and this story is an important one: written in 1887, it called time on the Victorian ghost story, masterfully blending satire, social commentary, and supernatural themes, subverting the traditions of the form to explore profound ideas about culture, redemption, and the human condition.
It's a tale which has its cake and eats it, packed with familiar gothic tropes while also being both a parody and social satire; it serves as a sharp critique of both the English aristocracy and the American nouveau riche, with Wilde using the clash between ancient, tradition-bound British culture and modern, materialistic, and practical American culture to highlight the absurdities and shortcomings of both societies.
Exploring eternally-relevant themes such as redemption and forgiveness, life and death, and the tensions between materialism and spirituality, it also showcases Wilde's characteristic wit, irony, and use of paradox.
Rightfully acknowledged as a masterpiece of comic gothic fiction that continues to be enjoyed for its literary craftsmanship and timeless relevance, we hope you enjoy Martin's reading, that it makes you smile during our current quite dark and dismal times, and offers both a lighthearted, entertaining parody and a poignant, meaningful exploration of human nature and social values.
In addition to which, for tomorrow's episode of Local Legends Eleanor has interviewed Tony Walker, host of the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast, for whom this sort of thing is his bread and butter, so speak to you again then!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On this month's Haunting Season-themed episode of Magus we're digging into the gory life story of "The Beast" himself, Aleister Crowley!
One of the most infamous occult figures of the 20th century, we explore how Crowley's singular life unfolded - his religious childhood, early penchant for sadism, his academic failures, and his interests in the arcane; his poetry, quest for knowledge, and the boundless, destructive hedonism which led him into penury and dissolution.
Author of some of the century's most influential books about 'magick' - a spelling he himself pioneered - we recall how it was not until Crowley was long dead that his work reached a significant global audience.
But what has been lost in the reclamation of Crowley as a rock and roll icon celebrated by the 60s counter-culture?
From his life-long drug habits to his many frauds, his litany of sexual abuses to his contradictory messaging and petty feuds, he was a person who courted controversy at every stage of his life, and whose globe-trotting existence left a legacy of pain and trauma in its wake.
As such, we're diving into some grotty stuff on this one, along with some fascinating, challenging, and at times utterly ridiculous concepts.
Though, fair warning, you may want to scrub yourself clean afterwards...
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's already the final week of Haunting Season 2025, so we proudly present our last 'Trilogy of Terror' for this year!
The episode features our two last winning short stories in this year's Ghost Story Writing Competition, along with another diverse selection of things which terrify our listeners.
'Up At The Cross Roads By Tants Farm' by Holly Barratt tells the tale of a time-skip with a deadly result, and 'The Secrets The Snow Keeps' by Sarah Harrison reminds us of the importance of telling the truth.
After that, we finish with Eleanor's story 'Wraiths of Helmand', a slightly harrowing exploration of memory and trauma.
We really hope you enjoy all three, and we'll be back on Thursday with a brand new Magus episode all about Aleister Crowley - and a few other things to look forward to before Haunting Season 2025 well and truly drifts away!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For our third Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Martin chats about spooky stuff with the author of Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials, Dr Marion Gibson.
Marion is currently Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at the University of Exeter, and if you are unfamiliar with her work then she is the author of books including The Witches of St Osyth, Reading Witchcraft: Stories of Early English Witches, Witchcraft: The Basics, and Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft, and her work as a consultant for TV includes Sky History’s The Witches of Essex with Dr Alice Roberts and Rylan Clark, Investigating Witch Hunts with Suranne Jones, and the BBC’s Paranormal: Britain’s Last Witch with Sian Eleri.
To find out more about her work visit her website here.
For now though, let’s settle in for a good ol' chinwag about topics including the relationship between the witch and Halloween, ghostly familiar spirits, the tale of a naval commander who encountered The Devil, The Witches of Warboys, The Exeter Book, and a whole bunch more...
Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's Haunting Season, so for this month's Forgotten Melodies bonus episode we're exploring the bloody broadsides of Murder Ballads.
As ever, the episode features new arrangements of three traditional Murder Ballads: Edward, The Bonny Bows and The Cruel Ship's Carpenter, and Martin, Ben and Eleanor talk about the history of the murder ballad and of the songs.
From its medieval roots in Northern Europe to its journey across the Atlantic and back again, we explore the murder ballad's connection to true crime, and the narratives which reoccur again and again.
Then, Martin gets his own back by springing a quiz on Eleanor and Ben...
Forgotten Melodies will continue to enjoy the darker side of folk music in November, in which we'll be singing and discussing Witch Songs.
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We enter the third week of Three Ravens Haunting Season 2025 with our third 'Trilogy of Terror'!
Our two winning entries for this week, both submitted for our annual Three Ravens Ghost Story Writing Competition, are quite different in tone.
"Forgotten" by Felix Woidtke is a dark tale of America's abandoned places with a real bite, while Alexa Harding's "Like Father; Like..." explores a dead father's long shadow.
Then, to finish, Martin's epic-length story, "Connect With Me" is an insidious imagining of a grim near future where humanity is reduced to nothing more than a ghost of itself.
We really hope you enjoy all three and can settle in for a longer listen. We'll be back on Thursday with a new Forgotten Melodies episode all about Murder Ballads!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For our second Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Eleanor chats to author, paranormal historian, ghost-hunter and the host of the outstanding How Haunted? podcast, Rob Kirkup!
Rob’s from the north east of England, and has been leading paranormal investigations for over twenty years, which has involved him spending many nights in total darkness at some of the most haunted places in the UK. He’s author of Ghosts of the North East, Paranormal Northumberland, and loads of other titles, some of which include his own photography.
To find out more about Rob's work, and of course, to listen to How Haunted?, visit how-haunted.com.
For now, though, let’s make sure our camping torches have plenty of batteries and settle in for a conversation which includes spontaneous combustion, haunted dolls, Ghostbusters, and some genuinely inexplicable occurrences with a true Local Legend, Rob Kirkup.
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For this week's Haunting Season-themed Bonus Episode we're chatting all about the mythology of Zombies and Revenants!
To start off with, which is which? Because one dates from Medieval times, and the other comes from a word invented by an English poet in 1819.
And if we look further back, to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and Scythia, what root creatures and legends can we find that travel forward through history to become 'The Zombie' and 'The Revenant.'
One is rooted in fear surrounding death, too, and society showing due respect to the dearly departed, while the other is rooted in racism, yet both end up in the same place.
A world of paranoia, filled with the fear of others, and about the belief the End Times are coming.
Mix in a little bit of Samurai and Cowboy mythology and a sprinkling of Science Fiction and it turns out we've ended up exactly where we wanted to be.
A place where zombies could be anywhere, or anyone... but don't worry, as zombies can be cute now, so, presumably, less dangerous?
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Three Ravens Haunting Season continues today with the second of our four 'Trilogies of Terror' across the month of October!
We begin, in tried and tested style, with two winning tales from our annual Three Ravens Ghost Story Writing Competition.
The first of these, "The Old Way Stone" by Alex Effinger, feels almost like a late Victorian classic, set in Scotland, while the second, "The Descendant" by Tim Lane is a wildly imaginative comedic ghost story, featuring a haunted tea cozy...
Lastly comes Eleanor's new story for this week, "Sundowners." Channeling her recent experiences in hospital, it's a twisty one, featuring more than just one kind of creeping dread...
We sincerely hope that you enjoy all three, and speak to you again on Thursday for our Three Ravens Bestiary Bonus Episode all about Zombies and Revenants!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Roll on another month and another Three Ravens Live Show release - and of not just one but two performances recorded at Gloucester History Festival at the end of September 2025!
As we explain in the episode, first comes our Forgotten Melodies Live show, performed on Sunday 21st September in the Great Hall at Gloucester's Blackfriars as part of Witch Night, followed by a retelling of Martin's Gloucester story first heard in Series 3 Episode 2 about Gloucestershire, "The Torbarrow Guardian" as recorded that afternoon in the Scriptorium Buttery.
We really hope you enjoy both recordings, speak to you tomorrow for an all-new episode of Three Ravens Haunting Season, and if you would like details of the Forgotten Melodies Live set list then it's as follows:
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.
Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.